Last December on RTL, Antoine Dupont confided his desire to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games with the Sevens Blues. “There is a desire on my part to put things in place to be able to participate,” explained the captain of the XV of France. Before warning: “This will be a discussion between the different staffs. On the Jérôme Daret side, obviously no problem.
“It is the number 1 choice, loose the national coach of the septists in South West. If he wants to make the Olympics, which coach can refuse him? If it is done, it will be in an intelligent and constructive way. By also having the ambition to also see if he feels good in this game, in this discipline different from the XV. »
Change not always easy
The discipline is much more rhythmic and airy than “traditional” rugby and Daret recalls some failures in certain defectors, “like Radradra [Fidji] “, but also” Sonny Bill Williams [Nouvelle-Zélande]Quade Cooper [Australie]Juan Imhoff [Argentine] “.
It also remains to convince Stade Toulousain, Dupont’s employer, even if the Olympic sevens rugby calendar (from July 24 to 30, 2024) is compatible with that of the Top 14 and the Champions Cup. Seeing the two captains of the Blues of rugby and football playing the Games at home (since Kylian Mbappé is also interested), that would be great, wouldn’t it?